


Leaning on You

by solangeloismyotp



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Comfort, Cuddles, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, Soft Jonny d'Ville, The relationship between Jonny and Ivy could be read as romantic or platonic your choice, i think this qualifies as, mentions of vomit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29076918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solangeloismyotp/pseuds/solangeloismyotp
Summary: Ivy wakes up feeling off.—Ivy gets sick, and is forced to seek help from the others.
Relationships: Ivy Alexandria & Jonny d'Ville, Ivy Alexandria/Raphaella la Cognizi, Raphaella la Cognizi & Jonny d'Ville
Comments: 5
Kudos: 50





	Leaning on You

Ivy wakes up feeling off. Her body temperature is slightly above average, and her processing speed has taken a slight dip from the day before. 

She isn’t worried, however, as both statistics are within a standard deviation of her normal function. She gets up and leaves the blanket pile in the library where she normally sleeps, proceeding with the day of cross-referencing she had planned.

As the day continues, her temperature continues to rise. At first she could easily write it off as Ashes getting bored near the library, but now she’s begun to tremble and has to place the book she’s reading on the ground in front of her so she can continue with her work.

By noon, Ivy’s whole body is covered in a thin sheen of sweat, and she’s shaking like a leaf. Even more worryingly, her reading speed has dropped below 600 words per minute, the slowest she can ever remember it being.

Ivy’s absolutely miserable, and decides to go to the kitchen to get a cup of tea, hoping that it would at least help soothe her muscles enough to stop them from shaking. Ivy carefully re-shelves the book she was reading back to its place above where she was reading and stands up.

All of a sudden, a wave of nausea bursts forward, catching in her throat and threatening her precious books. Ivy sways to a halt, grabbing onto a shelf with one hand and bringing the other up to cover her mouth, clenching her jaw. She breathes in and out slowly through her nose until the feeling fades away into manageable background noise, then slowly moves towards the exit. She still has tea to get, after all.

* * *

The shortest route between the library and the kitchen, unfortunately, cuts through the common room. And even worse, Jonny and Brian happen to be playing a card game at one of the tables as Ivy stumbles into the room. 

The state Ivy’s in, she doesn't notice them until Jonny calls out to her.

“Hey, Ivy! Nice to see you out of the library for once.” 

Ivy doesn’t respond, keeping her head down and slowly shuffling towards the kitchen. Had this been any other time, she would give him a glare and an insult for his remark, maybe even a bullet if she felt like it. But right now, she’s too concentrated on making it to her destination to properly process his words, only vaguely understanding that something was said at all.

“You ok, Ivy? You don’t look good,” Brian asks, walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her slow trudge across the room. He bends down, trying to catch her eye. His question manages to penetrate the fog clogging up Ivy’s brain, and she looks up.

“‘m cold, getting tea from the kitchen.”

Brian reaches up and presses the back of his hand to Ivy’s forehead.

“You’ve got a fever, Ivy. I think you’re sick.” He wipes the back of his hand on his pants to rid it of sweat from Ivy’s forehead.

“She’s sick?” Jonny hops off of his chair and heads over to the two of them, the expression on his face eerily similar to that of a concerned parent even as he actively tries to hide his worry.

“I’m not sick. Just…not well.”

Brian lets out a small laugh. “I’m pretty sure that means you’re sick, Ivy. How about you go back to your room, and we’ll get you the tea for you, ok?”

“Ok,” Ivy responds, turning around and shuffling back the way she came. She makes it almost to the door before a second wave of nausea overcomes her, forcing her to the ground with a hand clutched over her mouth.

“Shit,” Brian says eloquently, him and Jonny jogging over to where Ivy now lies crumpled on the floor. “What happened?”

When Ivy doesn’t respond, their worries only grow. Jonny kneels down so that he’s face to face with Ivy.

“Ivy, can you tell me what happened?” 

Ivy slowly shakes her head, not risking any sudden movements for fear of vomiting right then and there.

“Why not?” Brian questions.

Ivy shakes her head again, then gestures to her mouth with her free hand.

“You can’t speak?”

Ivy nods again.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Jonny asks.

Ivy holds out her arm, gesturing for Jonny to pick her up.

“You want me to carry you?” Another nod. “Alright, I can do that. C’mere.” Jonny gently shifts Ivy’s weak frame into his arms, taking care to avoid sudden movements that might make her condition worse. She curls up in his arms, and he is struck by just how small she seems.

“Where do you wanna go? Your room?” Ivy nods again, stronger this time.

“I’ll grab Raph,” Brian says. “She’ll probably be our best shot at figuring out what’s wrong with Ivy.”

Jonny nods his agreement to Brian, and then they both set off to complete their tasks, Jonny careful not to jostle Ivy as he brings her to her room.

* * *

The door of Ivy’s pod hisses open as Jonny approaches it. He mumbles a quick thanks to Aurora before bringing Ivy over to her bed. He lowers her onto it, doing his best to avoid the books stacked all over the covers. Next, he shifts his focus to removing the book to make more space for Ivy, trying to keep them in the piles Ivy had sorted them into.

Once the bed is clear, he picks Ivy back up, shifting her to the far side of the bed. As he does so, Ivy opens her eyes and groans.

“Stop it...I was fine there.”

“Too bad. I’m moving you so I can get you under the covers. You should be grateful.”

“Jonny…”. She whines.

Jonny finishes pulling the covers on the bed back and reaches over to place a hand on Ivy’s back. “C’mon now, roll over. Don’t make me pick you up again. And since you can speak now, how about you tell me what happened in the common room. You scared us.”

Ivy shifts over so that Jonny can tuck her in. “Got nauseous. Stopped standing.” Wanting to be finished with Jonny’s line of questioning, Ivy turns onto her stomach and buries her face in a pillow.

“That’s probably not the best idea if you’re nauseous,” Jonny warns.

“Don’t care. I’m sick. I can do what I want.”

“Not my fault if you throw up all over your pillow.” Jonny retorts. Then, more tentatively, “D’you want me to get a bucket, just in case?”

A muffled “yeah,” comes from the pillow, so he leaves in search of one, relieved for a break from feeling emotions.

* * *

Jonny arrives back in the room only a few minutes later, clutching an old bucket and a steaming mug of tea. On his way to retrieve the bucket from one of the janitorial closets scattered around the Aurora, he’d run into Brian, and had taken the tea from him so that Brian could get Raphaella sooner.

“Got you your bucket and tea,” he says, placing the bucket on the ground next to the bed and the tea on a nearby table. 

“Thanks,” Ivy says, head still buried in her pillow.

“I saw Brian in the hall, so Raph’ll be here soon. She’ll get you feeling better, it’s what she does.”

“I know. Want you, though.” 

Jonny freezes. “Whaddya mean, ‘want me’?”

Ivy’s hand snakes out from under the covers, flapping around until she gets a hold on his wrist. She tugs on his arm until he’s right beside her bed.

“Want you.”

“I still don’t know what you mean, Ivy.”

“I’m cold, you’re warm.” She lifts her head from the pillow, looking up at him with big eyes. “Cuddles?” She asks tentatively, unsure how Jonny would respond to requests for physical affection.

“You must be really out of it,” Jonny grumbles to himself, before addressing Ivy again. “Alright, scootch over. But a word about this to anyone else, I’ll kill you so hard you’ll stay dead for a year.”

Ivy grins, shifting over to make room for him.

Jonny clambers into the bed, lying awkwardly on his back next to her. After a few seconds when he makes no move to actually cuddle with her, Ivy speaks up.

“Isn’t the point of cuddling to actually cuddle?” She questions, giving his side a light poke.

Jonny gives her the middle finger but shuffles around until he’s laying on his side, pressed up against Ivy.

“You’re as hot as a damn furnace!”

“That’s what fevers do, Jonny.”

“How can you be cold like this?”

“Science.”

“Oh.” He seems a little defeated at that, his face sinking into a frown for just a second before hiding it behind a neutral expression. Ivy feels bad for him, so she opens her arms for him.

“Hug?”

Jonny accepts, letting her hold him close. He relaxes into her touch and doesn’t say anything when she doesn’t let go even after a long hug should have ended. He’d never admit it, but he was enjoying the hug just as much as Ivy was.

After a few minutes, they shift into a more comfortable position. Jonny moves to lay on his back, with Ivy’s head pillowed on his chest. The whole time they never let go of each other, seeking comfort from the other’s presence.

The two of them stay like that for a while, until a knock sounds at the door to Ivy’s room. It’s quiet, but still harsh enough to make Ivy flinch. Jonny moves Ivy off of him and gets up, opening the door.

On the other side is Raph, a concerted expression on her face.

“Brian said Ivy’s sick?” She questions.

“Yeah. She seems pretty out of it.” Jonny confirms. He steps aside to let her in, closing the door behind her.

Raph nods to acknowledge him, walking over to the bed. She kneels next to the bed, near Ivy’s face.

“Hey there.” Ivy opens her eyes, smiling when her eyes confirm what hearing Raph’s voice already told her. “Brian said you’re feeling sick.”

“Yeah.” Ivy’s voice is still weak, but it’s stronger now than it was when she was talking in the common room.

“How’re you feeling?”

Ivy whimpers. “Hot.”

“I know. I just need you to answer a few questions for me so I can help you feel better, okay?” She reaches out and brushes a few strands of red hair off Ivy’s face. “It won’t take long, I promise.”

Ivy nods, leaning into Raphaela’s touch.

“Do you know when this started?”

“Today? Felt off in the morning, then got worse.”

“Alright. Any other symptoms beyond nausea and fever?”

A pause, then “No.”

Raph doesn’t believe her. Ivy’s never been great at lying on the spot, and she’s even worse when she’s sick. “Doesn’t sound like your sure. Can you give me a basic functions report?”

Ivy pauses for a second to bring up the numbers from her brain. “Processing power is down 73% from yesterday’s levels, memory down 48%, efficiency of basic biological processes down 314%, body temperature 39 degrees Celsius. Diagnosis: 38% chance spinfluenza, 65% chance other illness.” She pauses, then says quietly “7% chance mechanical malfunction.”

“Shit.” Jonny doesn’t know much about statistics, numbers, or human bodies, but he’s spent enough time with Ivy to know that what she just said doesn’t sound good.

“Yeah.” Raph stands up. “Because processing power and memory are affected, the fever’s probably affecting her brain.”

“Can you fix it?”

“Probably, given enough time. But with how it’s affecting her mechanism, I don’t think we can risk just shooting her so she’s unconscious while her body recovers. She’ll have to wait it out.”

“Thank you so much, love. You did so good. I’m going to leave now, but I’ll be back soon, promise.”

A warm hand curls around Raph’s wrist, weakly tugging her closer to the bed. 

“Stay,” Ivy mummers. Raphaella reaches over and gently removes the impromptu bracelet she had acquired from her wrist with a small smile, before setting Ivy’s arm on top of the covers.

“Wish I could, love, but I’ve gotta go so I can figure out what’s wrong with you so I can make you feel better. Jonny’ll still be here, he’ll stay with you, ok?”

Jonny glares at Raph for forcing him to stay there, but there’s no real malice behind it. When Ivy gives off another whimper, he moves closer to the bed and picks her hand up from where Raph had placed it, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“You can go, I’ve got her,” he says to Raph. His tone is soft, and his voice as reassuring as it gets.

Raph gives him a soft smile, and leaves the two behind for her lab. She has a mystery to solve.

* * *

A couple hours later, Raph heads back to Ivy’s room. She was hoping to tell Ivy that she’s just got a bad case of spinfluenza, as well as check on how she’s doing. 

When she pushes open the door, however, she finds Jonny and Ivy fast asleep on the bed, cuddled up together. Jonny is curled protectively around Ivy, holding her close to his chest. On their faces are the most contented expressions she’s seen for a good few hundred years.

Raphaella duck into the room, heading over to the bed. She grabs the covers and pulls them up over Ivy and Jonny, tucking them in. From the nearest table, she grabs the now-empty teacup and heads back to the doorway. 

Stood over the threshold, Raphaella turns back once more to look at them. She smiles, then leaves them to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and thank you so much for reading! I hoped you enjoyed the story, I know I certainly enjoyed writing it.
> 
> It would mean so much to me if you left a kudos or comment, so thank you if you do, but no pressure! I cherish each one, even if I don’t respond.


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